Selector-less Ferroelectric Tunnel Junctions by Stress Engineering and an Imprinting Effect for High-Density Cross-Point Synapse Arrays

In the quest for highly scalable and three-dimensional (3D) stackable memory components, ferroelectric tunnel junction (FTJ) crossbar architectures are promising technologies for nonvolatile logic and neuromorphic computing. Most FTJs, however, require additional nonlinear devices to suppress sneakpath current, limiting large-scale arrays in practical applications. Moreover, the giant tunneling electroresistance (TER) remains challenging due to their inherent weak polarization. Here, we present that the employment of a diffusion barrier layer as well as a bottom metal electrode having a significantly low thermal expansion coefficient has been identified as an important way to enhance the strain, stabilize the ferroelectricity, and manage the leakage current in ultrathin hafnia film, achieving a high TER of 100, negligible resistance changes even up to 10(8) cycles, and a high switching speed of a few tens of nanoseconds. Also, we demonstrate that the usage of an imprinting effect in a ferroelectric capacitor induced by an ionized oxygen vacancy near the electrode results in highly asymmetric current-voltage characteristics with a rectifying ratio of 1000. Notably, the proposed FTJ exhibits a high density array size (>4k) with a securing read margin of 10%. These findings provide a guideline for the design of high-performance and selector-free FTJ devices for large-scale crossbar arrays in neuromorphic applications.

Automated summary

This study explores the use of a diffusion barrier layer and a bottom metal electrode with a low thermal expansion coefficient to enhance performance in FTJ devices, achieving high TER and fast switching speeds. Additionally, utilizing an imprinting effect can result in highly asymmetric current-voltage characteristics and rectifying ratio in these devices.